XXVI. ROSA‘CEE: SPIRE*A. 299 
Genus VIII. 
SPIRE'‘A L. Tue Spir#a. Lin. Syst. Icosindria Di-Pentagynia. 
Identification. Lin. Gen., No. 630,; Gzrtn. Fruct., ]. p. 337. t. 69. ; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 541.; Don’s 
Mill., 2. p. 517. 
Synonymes. Spire‘a sp. Cambessedes Mon. Spir. in Ann. Sci. Nat. 1. p. 227. ; Spirée, Fr.; Spier- 
staude, Ger. 
Derivation. From speira, a cord, in reference to the supposed flexibility of the branches of some 
of the species; or, according to some, from spetrad, to wreath ; in allusion to the fitness of the 
flowers to be twisted into garlands. Spir@on is Pliny’s name for a plant the blossoms of which 
were used, in his time, for making garlands ; but that plant is thought by some to have been the 
VibGrnum Lantana. 
Gen. Char. Calyx 5-cleft, permanent. Stamens 10—80, inserted in the torus, 
lining the calyx along with the petals. Carpels solitary, or several together, 
rarely connected at the base, ending in short points, sessile, rarely stipitate. 
Seeds 2—6. (Don’s Mill.) 
Leaves usually simple, but sometimes pinnately cut, having pinnate, or 
palmately ternate, nerves ; alternate, stipulate, deciduous. Flowers white or 
reddish, never yellow. — Shrubs, low, deciduous. Europe, Asia, America. 
Generally of erect growth, with conspicuous flowers of considerable elegance 
and beauty. The naked young wood, in almost all the species, is of a cin- 
namon brown ; and, in those kinds in which the shoots are numerous so as to 
produce a mass, the effect is conspicuous in the winter season. They are all 
readily propagated by suckers, which, in general, they produce in abundance, 
and they will grow in any common soil. 
§ i. Physocérpos Camb. 
Derivation. From phusa, a bladder, and karpos, a fruit ; in reference to the bladdery carpels. 
Sect. Char. Ovaries connected at the base. Torus lining the calycine tube. 
Carpels bladdery, rather membranous. Ovula 2—3, fixed to the semini-. 
ferous margin of the carpel, ovoid, at first horizontal, but at length sus- 
pended. Flowers hermaphrodite, disposed in umbels. Pedicels 1-flowered. 
Leaves toothed, or somewhat lobed, usually stipulate. (Don’s.Mill., p. 517.) 
1. S. opuniro‘tia L. The Guelder-Rose-leaved Spiraea, or Virginian 
Guelder Rose. 
Identification. Lin. Sp., 702.; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 542.; Don’s Mill., 2. p. 517. 
Synonymes. Nine Bark, Amer.; Evonimo del Canada, Ital. 
Engravings. N. Du Ham., 6. t. 14.; and our jigs. 491, 492. 
Spec. Char., &c. Leaves lobed, or 3-lobed, and _par- 
taking of an ovate figure, doubly serrated, petioled, 
and many of them stipuled. Flowers white, nume- 
rous, disposed in stalked hemi- 
spherical corymbs ; the pedicel of 
each flower slender and glabrous. 
Sepals spreading. Torus wholly 
connate with the tube of the calyx. 
Ovaries connate with each other 
at the base. Ovules in each 2—3, 
affixed to the margin, egg-shaped, 
at first horizontal, at length the 
one pendulous, the rest ascending. 
Carpels bladdery, rather membran- 
aceous, large and diverging. Seeds 
obovate, glossy, and yellow. (Dec, Prod.) A large shrub. North America, 
from Canada to Carolina. Height 8 ft. to 10 ft. Introd. in 1690. Flowers 
492. $. opulifélia, 
